Archive for the ‘Blog’ Category

What can I say about Massive Pwnage? Well, I could say that it is one of the most important things I’ve ever done with my life. I could say that Massive Pwnage taught me everything I know about hard work, discipline, and professionalism. I could say that Massive Pwnage opened doors that I never imagined could be opened. I could say that thanks to Massive Pwnage, I’ve learned that I’m a cartoonist. I could say that I’ve always thought the name Massive Pwnage is a bit silly — and by this point, kinda dated.

I could say all of those things.

But I won’t.

Because you all have stuck with us for eight years. You know all of this because we took this journey together. Maybe you haven’t been here the whole time, maybe you only arrived recently, but we still made it to the same destination together.

Life goes on! You can still find me on Twitter for any and all updates. Myself and my eternal creative partner — without whom none of this would have been possible — Josh Rivas, along with our past, present, and future collective works, can also be found at Dark Magic Press. And don’t worry, the Massive Pwnage archives will stay available for as long as humans remain the dominant race on earth.

According to our Archive, the first comic was posted in December of 2007. Here we are, in 2016, and we’re closing the last chapter of Massive Pwnage. When we discussed the end of the strip, it was always something that was kind of sore. This comic is incredibly special to us, not because we’ve been working on it so long, but because it was our first. And if anything, it’s a monument to a friendship that’s lasted more than a decade. Jon poured his heart into this thing and it gave so much back. Through it, we cultivated so many great stories, learned so much, and met plenty of amazing people. We crossed paths with Team Four Star, Michelle Ann Dunphy, Lisle Wilkerson, Warky Nunez, Laura Post, Sonny Strait, and many more. We were nudged along and highlighted by Blizzard, and Riot Games, and a bunch of other rad people. We hosted fundraisers for Child’s Play, got to talk about making comics in front of excellent aspiring creators, and had the best time doing it. And none of that would have happened if Jon hadn’t decided to buckle down and start drawing and writing. There were plenty of times where the comic escaped us, we didn’t know what we wanted it to be, or do, but ultimately, Jon kept plugging into it.

It was because of that love for this project that the decision to put an end to it was scary. I guess we wanted to make sure that whatever we wrote would be an ending we’d be proud to have our names under. I won’t say that this won’t be the last time I write about these characters, and I’m sure Jon will draw another Ence piece from time to time, but I think the boys have earned some peace. This isn’t goodbye, we love you guys more than anything, and it was your encouragement that kept us writing. Stay tuned, we’ve got a lot of exciting new things on the horizon.

As always, I want to thank my family and friends for being super supportive of the comic, especially my parents, who have driven me to pursue my dreams. My former teachers, Novelist Anna Keesey, Poet Lex Runciman, and Guerrilla Philosopher Seth Tichenor. Thank you for showing me the method in the madness, and the madness in the method. Last I want to thank our readers, without which we’d be two crazy dudes throwing jokes at empty space.

Introducing Dark Magic Press, the new hub site for all of our creative endeavors! In fact, if you’ve been itching for a brand new story from a Mr. Josh Rivas and myself, you may like what you find there.

Dark Magic Press is the place to watch if you’re at all interested in seeing the countless jpgs we will undoubtedly continue to spew forth unendingly. That, and my Twitter. Twitter is good for that too.

There will be one final story arc, one last hurrah, and the curtains will close. Our final story — by my best estimate, based on the length of the script I’ve written — will span the length of roughly fifteen comics. This means that Locke and Ence’s story will conclude in about two months time, just after our eight year anniversary.

So why is this happening, you may ask? Do you just not have the time? Do you want to work on other, longer projects? Do you feel that you’ve said all you’ve wanted to say with this world and these characters? Don’t you love us anymore? Is it me? Is it something I did?

To some degree, all of those reasons have at least some truth to them. Except the part about loving you all any less. You folks are awesome and my main source of inspiration and resolve. We made it this far together.

You can find Locke and I and these nice posters and all of our other goodies at table R9 in Artist Alley all weekend. Stop by if you can! We promise not to exert our tremendous presence and wills over you with the intent of forcing you into purchasing our wares! Woo!

Oh, and I can’t take all of the credit for this poster. The designs and layout were done by my wife. Someday I’ll be able to convince her into starting up her own Tumblr or somethin’. Someday.

Did you know that Massive Pwnage will be exhibiting at Rose City Comic Con this year? It’s true! September 19th and 20th you’ll be able to find our fleshy, real-life bodies in Artist Alley! Both real-life Locke and real-life Me will be present in our corporeal forms and will be able to converse with you and almost make eye contact using our totally human eyes!

We missed Rose City Comic Con last year due to sudden-human-infant-related reasons, but we’re thinking about attending it again this year. But! There’s two issues that I’d like to run by you first. They raised their table prices and we don’t have any new merch. It’s a very real possibility that we wouldn’t even be able to cover the costs of attending!

So, we put it to you. Are you thinking about going? What new merch would you be excited to see?